Videos

Atari A to Z: Henri

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Today’s Atari 8-Bit game shows us that even back in the 1980s, programmers weren’t above churning out something just to make a quick buck.

Enter Henri by one Adam Billyard, a developer who would later go on to produce great things for The English Software Company — specifically the technically stunning (but exceedingly irritating) racer Elektra Glide, and the well-animated one-on-one fighting game Chop Suey.

At the time he put out Henri, however, he was just trying to scrape together enough money for his air fare to get home. The result was a competent, if relatively unremarkable Mr. Do! clone. I hope you like the sound of Bach…

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated site here!

Dragalia Lost

Dragalia Lost: Loyalty’s Requiem

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One interesting difference between “conventional” MMOs such as Final Fantasy XIV and mobile games with MMO elements such as Dragalia Lost is how they handle side stories and multiplayer “raid” content.

In your average MMO, raid content — typically defined as a series of significant challenges that are dependent on a much larger group of players than the game’s usual multiplayer aspect — remains present in the game after its introduction, but gradually declines in “relevance” as time goes on. In cases like Final Fantasy XIV, where there’s a significant narrative component, it remains worth engaging with to enjoy the story, but the more time that elapses since its original launch, the less helpful it becomes to players in mechanical terms.

In mobile MMOs, however, raid content is typically a limited-time affair, confined to an event that offers special rewards to everyone who participates for a short period of time. And that’s exactly what’s going on in Dragalia Lost right now.

Continue reading Dragalia Lost: Loyalty’s Requiem →

Cover Games, Evenicle

Evenicle: Fighting to Keep the World the Same

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cropped-evenicle-header-2828638This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Eroge tend to find themselves in a difficult position, with their reputation of being “porn” being a largely contributing factor as to why they rarely get any mainstream recognition.

This is unfortunate, because as we’ve already seen with visual novels like Frontwing’s Grisaia series and the RPGs in AliceSoft’s Rance series, having 18+ content most certainly does not mean that a work has nothing to say.

On the contrary, the freedom to be as “adult” as you like brings with it the opportunity to explore interesting, mature and thought-provoking themes as well as just sexual content. And such is the case with Evenicle, one of AliceSoft’s strongest games to date, both from mechanical and story perspectives. Let’s take a closer look at its overall narrative.

Continue reading Evenicle: Fighting to Keep the World the Same →

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Sunday Driving, Videos

Sunday Driving: Finale? – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #7

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We’ve been making good headway through Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed… but today we clear the game!

Or do we…? This is a Sega game in the classic console mould, after all, so it only stands to reason that seeing the end credits isn’t necessarily the end of the experience…

Regardless, today we see the “ending” of the game… and from there we’ll have to decide what to do next!

Continue reading Sunday Driving: Finale? – Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed #7 →

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Hello again everyone! Hope you’ve all had a pleasant weekend and are enjoying the cosiness that the onset of autumn brings.

I’ve been busting my ass trying to beat Evenicle and it’s taken a little longer than I anticipated, but as I write this, I’m on the final chapter and closing in on the actual ending, so we’ll wrap things up once and for all with one more article either later today or (more likely) tomorrow.

After that we’ll be moving on to spooky funtimes for October with the Project Zero series, also known as Fatal Frame. But what else went on this week? Well, hit the jump and let’s review.

Continue reading Around the Network →

Dragalia Lost

Dragalia Lost: What’s That Sound? It’s Daoko

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If you’ve been playing Nintendo and Cygames’ new mobile release Dragalia Lost, you’ve probably noticed it has a rather distinctive soundtrack.

The reason for this is not what you might expect: rather than being composed specifically for the game, with the composer making use of a deliberately stylised approach to the overall audio aesthetic, the game instead uses an almost entirely licensed soundtrack, courtesy of Japanese singer and rapper Daoko.

If you haven’t come across Daoko before, well, what better time than the present to have a look over her previous work, including that which appears in Dragalia Lost?

Continue reading Dragalia Lost: What’s That Sound? It’s Daoko →

Videos

Atari ST A to Z: Beyond the Ice Palace

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I never played this game back in the day, but it was one of those titles you saw all over the place in the early days of the ST.

Throughout the ST’s lifespan, it played host to a variety of different bundle packages, many of which were extremely generous in terms of the number of games and applications they included. Beyond the Ice Palace was a regular inclusion in such bundles, and as such became reasonably well-known.

Loosely inspired by action platformers such as Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, Beyond the Ice Palace sees your green-booted, gender-ambiguous hero(ine?) battling their way through hordes of enemies and admiring how the ST’s lack of sound channels meant that a single sound effect could mess up an entire musical composition.

Follow Atari A to Z on its own dedicated site here!

Videos, Warriors Wednesday

Warriors Wednesday: Most Definitely Sorcery Bullshit – Warriors Orochi #8

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It’s once again time for the Samurai Warriors and friends to continue their adventure through the otherworldly realm of Orochi.

The difficulty level is starting to ramp up noticeably now — today’s mission takes a few attempts to get just right, but we get there in the end!

We’re well past the halfway point of the Samurai Warriors scenario now… where will things end up next?

Continue reading Warriors Wednesday: Most Definitely Sorcery Bullshit – Warriors Orochi #8 →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Princess King Boo

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The Bowsette trend has continued pretty much unabated since last week — and I’m certainly not complaining.

Alongside the original phenomenon, however, there has been a related meme that has proven almost as successful and popular — so much so that it’s quite common to see the pair of them together.

I am, of course, talking about Princess King Boo, known to our Japanese cousins as キングテレサ姫 (kingu teresa-hime).

Header image by Yusan (Pixiv). Please support the many fabulous artists who have helped bring this meme to life!

Continue reading Waifu Wednesday: Princess King Boo →

Dragalia Lost, Mobage

Dragalia Lost: Making a Solid Start

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So, you decided to give Dragalia Lost a go. A free-to-play mobile game from Nintendo can’t be that scary, can it?

Well, if you’ve never given a game like this a shot before, there’s a surprising amount of depth to the overall affair that might not be immediately apparent. Dragalia Lost does a better job than most at introducing new progression mechanics gradually, but it can still be a little daunting if you’re a newcomer!

With that in mind, I present a selection of advice for those new to the game — particularly if you’re new to free-to-play mobile gacha RPGs in general.

Continue reading Dragalia Lost: Making a Solid Start →

The best of overlooked and underappreciated computer and video games, from yesterday and today.